College panto goes ahead despite lead actor breaking his foot

'The show must go on' was the cry of performing arts students when their lead actor took the saying 'Break a leg' literally.

Luke Robinson, 17, was cast as the lead role Buttons in Bracknell & Wokingham College's Christmas pantomime but broke his foot while dancing in the show's second performance.

Luke said: “I wanted to try and carry on because we worked so hard doing months of rehearsals and I didn’t want to let anyone down but the directors insisted I went to hospital.

"I am devastated not to have been able to continue performing in the rest of the shows.”

Shannon Wake, Luke's understudy, stepped in for the remainder of the 12 show run which ended on Saturday, December 8.

Diane Allen, assistant director of performing arts at the college said: “After all Luke’s hard work and preparation it was heartbreaking for the other students and teachers to see him have such an unfortunate accident.

"However the show did go on and Shannon Wake who stepped in for Luke and all the other students put on a fantastic show for the remainder of the shows.”

Luke has fracture the fifth metatarsal in his left foot and snapped the same bone in the other foot last year – also whilst dancing.

Doctors told him it could be a balance problem or brittle bones.

Students worked hard to create a new spin on a classic fairytale, which they named ‘Buttons: A New Adventure in Pantomime’ following Buttons as the main character instead of Cinderella.